


Potential

by Redundantchosen1



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2020-12-16 14:40:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21037874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redundantchosen1/pseuds/Redundantchosen1
Summary: Jaune never got any training to become a huntsman. Vale isn't as great as he thought it would be, and the initiation to Beacon is only a month away. Down to only enough lien to eat for the rest of his duration in Vale, the young blonde goes out for a nearby food joint. From there, Jaune's life just spirals into madness.





	1. First Meeting

Jaune sighed dejectedly as he stepped through the streets of Vale. The stars shone overhead, along with the shattered moon. The transcripts he had submitted had gotten him into Beacon, and all he had to do was pass the initiation next month. It couldn't be that hard. So what if he had no training, education, or anything even remotely related to huntsmen. He would prove his family that he was ready.

Unfortunately, he had underestimated how much life was willing to bring a man down. As soon as he had arrived in Vale, he had nearly gotten mugged, the only thing that kept his lien in his pocket was the sword hanging from his hip, one of the muggers recognizing it as a huntsman weapon, quickly scaring the others off. Then, booking a motel room for a month had been a lot more expensive that he had realized, eating up most of his funds.

Shaking his head to clear the thoughts from his mind, Jaune crossed an intersection, the crossing signal blinking lazily as he moved. He was hungry, and the only food place that wasn't takeout was quite a walk from the motel, forcing the young man to trek the city at a time he wasn't entirely comfortable with. The weight of his family sword on his hip calmed more than he felt it should have. After all, he barely knew he to swing the thing, and if he needed to use it, he was going to have to rely on the comics and video games he had invested most of his time in to show him the ropes.

Slowing as he approached the food joint he had looked up, Jaune looked around, not for any particular reason, more from a habit he had picked up during his school years, bullies teaching him to always be vigilant. Always. Not seeing anyone, the young man opened the door, the smell of food reaching his nose pleasantly. There were hardly any customers, only a lone man at the counter, tearing into his meal with zeal. From behind the counter, an employee, a man with dark blue hair, took a look at Jaune, and saw the sword at his hip, a frown on his face. "If you're coming here to eat, you're gonna need to put that with the other one."

Jaune blinked in confusion, and the employee rolled his eyes, before pointing to the left of the young man, where he saw a guandao leaning against the wall. Unhooking his sword from his belt, Jaune placed it next to the other weapon. Taking a seat close to the other customer, Jaune was handed a menu, which was more diverse in culture than he was expecting. Looking at the food, and the prices that went with them, Jaune could feel the strain it would place on his already pitiful funds.

After a solid three minutes of staring, the silence was broken form the other customer. "For the love of- Hey, Bisman, just give him my usual. I'll pay for it." At those words, Jaune turned to the man, getting a better look at him. The man was older than he first thought, the graying edges of the man's shoulder length hair and thin beard showed that he had to be at least as old as his dad, probably older. The man was lean, his skin a shade or two paler than Jaune's own. His clothes looked simple enough, with a plain white button up shirt, and black jeans, with a ring held by a twine necklace around his neck. Folded on the seat next to the man was what looked like a grey duster.

Blinking in confusion, Jaune shook his head. "Oh, no, that's fine. I can pay, just need to-"

Unfortunately, Jaune didn't get too far in his sentence. "Shut up and take the food. I've never seen you here, and new people take forever to decide on what they want. Besides," The man turned to Jaune, peering into the blonde's soul with cold, dark grey eyes. "I have a few questions about that sword of yours." Jaune gulped, fear gripping at him.

"A-alright then." Jaune wasn't sure what it was about the man that sent a chill up his spine, but he didn't like it. Roughly ten minutes later, the employee, Bisman, brought out a large plate, the food mainly consisting of fried rice, and various meats.

"Eat up, kid. It's not everyday that old Gray here decides to pay for somebody's meal." Bisman let out a snort, apparently finding some amusement in the situation. As the smell of the food hit Jaune, he felt his stomach growl, and his mouth start to salivate. With a quick thanks to the old man, the blonde began to eat as if it was the first time he'd seen anything edible in a week.

"This is amazing!" Jaune exclaimed between mouthfuls, shoveling forkful after forkful into his mouth. More than once he nearly choked, needing to swallow the water that had come with the food, which earned an eye roll from both men. Unfortunately, Jaune had barely started to appreciate the flavors of his meal before it had been devoured. Once every scrap was gone, Jaune let out a sigh in satisfaction.

The old man chuckled. "Well, glad to see you liked it. If you didn't, I would take that as a personal insult, and I would have had to kill you." Jaune let himself laugh nervously, unsure if the old man had actually meant it. "Well, I gave you food in your belly. I would say it's more than fair if I ask you a few questions." The young man gulped nervously, a small part of his mind wondering if he would be able to get his sword and run fast enough to get away from the man.

Fortunately, the larger part of his mind wasn't stupid enough to take that chance. "Alright. What do you wanna know?"

The man gave Jaune a grin. "Well, first thing's first. Just what exactly are you doing with it, and not you're dad? He give the sword to you?" Letting out a snort, the man let himself answer one of the questions. "No, good ol' Nick would have said something about the next Arc huntsman. So, what, you're some kind of runaway?"

Jaune could feel terror grip at him, and sweat begin to collect at his palms. Swallowing thickly, he opened his mouth. "Uh, well, you see, the funny thing about that... It's, well-"

Bisman let out a sigh, cutting Jaune's sentence early, much to the blonde's relief. "Jeez, Grayson, calm down will ya? You're gonna scare the kid to death at this rate."

Chuckling darkly, the old man, Grayson, kept his eyes on Jaune, like a predator that was toying with its prey. "Yeah? Well maybe that's what I'm going for. Maybe he's too much of a coward to come up with a good lie on the spot like this, and maybe he'll just try to run."

Those words were the straw that broke the camel's back. Turning swiftly, another skill acquired from bullies, Jaune began to run like a man possessed. He took three steps before he felt a hand on the back of his hoodie, his feet being thrown out from under him, and gagging from the force his neckline had abruptly put onto his neck. Landing on his back, Jaune let out a whimper as he looked up, to find Grayson standing over him, his arms folded across his chest. Scared out of his mind, the young man let the first thing that came to his mind out of his mouth. "Please don't hurt me."

Grayson sighed and shook his head. "Listen, kid, I"m not going to hurt you. At least, not if you just cooperate, and talk." The old man unfolded his arms, and reached out, silently offering a bit of help getting up.

Jaune took the hand quickly, both out of fear of what would happen if he didn't, as well as genuinely needing the hand, being a tad disoriented from his fall. "Thanks. I guess." Jaune walked to his previous seat, and took his spot, while Grayson simply turned from his position, standing a few feet away from the young man. "Okay, what do you want to know?"

Letting out another sigh, Grayson walked to his duster, searching through the article of clothing until he had pulled out a canteen. Unscrewing the lid, the old man began to drink from the canteen. And drink. And drink.

Once Grayson had downed the entire canteen in a single go, he set it down, and let out a burp that had lasted a staggering seven seconds. Bisman waved the air in front of his nose, face scrunched. "Good gods, Grayson. What the hell did you put in there?"

The old man looked up thoughtfully, and tapped a finger against his chin. "Well, Glynda recommended this new tea the other day, and I managed to pick some up. It didn't smell so great, but it tastes okay enough. A little too bitter for my palette, but that's for another time. For now," Grayson turned his attention to Jaune, who had been silent through the exchange. "Questions. First off; does your family even know you're here? Left a little note home? Because for some reason, Nick hadn't said a thing about this. So, either he never expected you to even get close to this far, or he trusts you on this whole mess. Could go either way, really."

Feeling his face flush with shame, the blonde let out a tortured sigh. "No, I just took the sword, the money I managed to save up, and left. No note, no call, nothing. I haven't even heard from my family for a few weeks."

Grayson stroked his meager beard, looking at Jaune as if examining a puzzle. "Well, that makes things a lot harder. Can't exactly just call ol' Nick and tell him his son is in Vale. Second question; what are you even here for? I don't exactly have enough info to get a good guess going."

Jaune shook his head. "I'm here for Beacon." At this, Grayson blinked, then began to chuckle, which escalated into cackles of laughter. For a bit, the old man just laughed. After a full minute, Jaune snapped. "I'm serious!"

Chuckling still, Grayson nodded. "Oh, heh, I know, hehehe, it's just... Well, you're not exactly Beacon material. I don't mean to in an insulting way, it's just a fact. I mean, all I really did to stop you from running was grab your hoodie, and you went down like a sack of bricks. Huntsmen need to be able to take actual hits. The kind that would kill normal people."

Jaune's eyes widened. "Wait, what? How? What kind of armor do you have to wear to be able to tank that kind of hit?"

Grayson let out a snort. "Damn kid, you really don't have what it takes if you don't know the answer to that." A moment passed, then Grayson blinked, looked back to the young blonde man, contemplating. Jaune didn't like the way he was being stared at, like some piece of meat. Finally, after two or three minutes, Grayson snapped his fingers, and slapped his palm onto the counter, which left an imprint the exact shape as his hand. Looking at it, Grayson gave a sigh. "Look, Bisman, I'll pay for that, just don't say anything, I just made a decision."

The blue haired man just shook his head and sighed, staying silent. Jaune was less so. "Uh, if you don't mind me asking, but what was that just now?"

Grayson grinned. "I'm sorry for this, but I'm going to answer that question with another question. Exactly how much training have you had to be so confident about going to Beacon?"

The blonde blinked, then a look of fear and nervousness shot across his features. "Uh, well, y'know, I'm so trained, like you wouldn't even believe."

The old man's grin inched ever wider. "Oh, I think I have a solution to your problem."

Jaune held up a finger, to correct the man. "Uh, don't you mean 'our' problems?"

"Nope, I mean your problem, because I have nothing to lose from this situation. But, on to my decision." Grayson clasped his hands together, his grin looking more and more maniacal. "You see, good young Jaune Arc, it's simple. I'm going to train you to be ready for Beacon in a single month."

Jaune blinked once. Then again. Then once more. "I'm sorry. It sounded like you said you were going to train me, could you tell me what you actually said?"

The grin never left Grayson's face. "I'm going to train you to be Beacon-ready. In a month. After all, you're an Arc, and Arcs are warriors. You should be fine." Grayson slapped an arm around Jaune's shoulders. "Oh, this is going to be the start of something beautiful. Or tragic. Definitely one of those two." Releasing Jaune, the old man grabbed the duster from the seat, and put it on with a smooth, practiced motion. Digging through his pockets, Grayson pulled out his wallet, and extracted a lot of lien, tossing it to Bisman. "There, that should cover the food, and most of the counter top. And before you say anything, don't worry. The kid is in safe hands." Moving toward the entrance, Grayson grabbed the guandao, and strapped it to his back. He then picked up Crocea Mors, and tossed it to Jaune, who caught it just in time. "C'mon kid. We have places to see, people to meet, the whole shebang." The grin, which had reached Cheshire levels, was planted firmly as Grayson opened the door, and strode out into the night.

Jaune could only fasten the ancestral sword to his belt as he rushed to catch up to the old huntsman. "Uh, excuse me! Can you slow down? Where are we even going?!"

Grayson turned on his heel, stopping abruptly, but thanks to Jaune's slow movement, the young blonde managed to stop himself before crashing into the huntsman. "Tell me, young Arc, what's the most illegal thing you've done? And be honest with me. I'll know if you're lying. You're bad at it."

Blushing, Jaune rubbed at the back of his neck. "Uh, you see, I might have, maybe, kind, sorta, y'know... Forged the transcripts I sent to Beacon..."

The silence than fell over the dark street, lit only by the lights of nearby businesses and homes, was nearly tangible. After a solid minute, Grayson spoke up. "You know, I'd congratulate you, but that would be like spitting in Ozpin's face. If you're sending fake documents, they're not letting that slide by undetected." Gone was the previous mischief, replaced by a solemn curiosity. "Hm. And you haven't gotten any letter or anything of the sort declining your entrance." A quick shake of the head from Jaune put a frown on Grayson's face. "Alright. Where'd you get those transcripts anyway? Some back alley thug?"

Jaune scratched his cheek sheepishly. "Well, I didn't really get a name from the guy, but he was really flamboyant, had his hair covering one of his eyes, and dressed pretty well for a criminal."

Apparently that was more than enough information to come to a conclusion he hadn't hoped for, because the groan Grayson let out could have been in a zombie flick. "Great. What did he charge? An arm and a leg?"

"Actually, he called it an investment, and said it was free." It was a bit strange thinking back on it, but at the time Jaune thought nothing aside of how lucky he had been.

The old huntsman's eyes widened, and he shouted out, "He what?!"

Wincing, Jaune nodded. "Yeah, not really sure what he meant by that, but it was a pretty good deal."

Slapping his forehead, Grayson dragged the hand down his face. "Right. Sure. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. So, you're not so innocent then. Good, because we're going to an underground fight ring, and I'm going to sign you up. Get ready, because they are going to tear you apart."

The blonde's eyes widened. "WHAT?!" The sound following was definitely not the whimpering of a child, despite any statements to the contrary Grayson would later give.

"Wow, didn't think people could get that high pitched." Rubbing at an ear, Grayson scowled at Jaune. "Anyway, yeah. Fight club, but there aren't any rules keeping anyone from talking about it. It's actually doing the economy some wonders with how much it's raking in. So, I'm signing you up, and betting everything I have in my pocket on you, so don't lose."

"What?! Why would you bet on me?! Why are you condoning this?! Aren't you supposed to stop this sort of thing?!"

Letting a smile on his face, Grayson answered Jaune's questions in order. "Fight club. You have an ace up your sleeve. Because I'm not some naive kid thinking all crime is bad. And finally, my job is actually keeping people safe from Grimm, although I focus more on the 'keep people safe' part." Waving off any objections, Grayson pressed on. "So yeah, we're going to a place I used to go to a lot when I was younger. Not a good time in my life, I'll tell you that much for free. Now," The huntsman grabbed Jaune by his arm, and began to drag him along, not even noticing the flailing and attempts at escape from the young man. "Let's get going. There's money to be made, secrets to reveal, and asses to kick. Maybe not that last one, but two out of three ain't bad." Jaune whimpered.

* * *

If anyone had told Jaune in the past that fight clubs were actually a lot more organized than he had thought, he would have asked how they knew that, then told them they were crazy. But lo and behold, there was no crowd cheering for blood, no concrete cellars and single light bulbs, instead a rather nice cage in the middle of a large empty room. There were only about a couple dozen people present, all of which had nicer clothing than Jaune could have dreamed of owning. As Grayson led the blonde lad through the building, Jaune couldn't help but notice how confident in direction the old man was. He supposed that made sense, since Grayson had commented how frequently he came here when he was younger.

"Alright, so, luckily, we're the last match of the night, and considering that, there won't be as many people around, the main event's gone, and people don't really care about the fights after the hyped match. Now, about that ace I mentioned earlier." Opening a door, Grayson ushered Jaune inside. "So, you asked earlier about armor taking hits from Grimm. There isn't. At least, not by itself." Smirking, Grayson held up a hand, which then glowed brightly, with a dark bluish tint. "But, if you can channel some aura into it, it can help."

Jaune watched, amazed by the light coming from the old man. "Aura?"

Rolling his eyes, Grayson nodded. "Aura. It's what keeps hunters alive. We can do a whole lot with it, if we have the control, aura needed, and drive needed. But right now, we're going to focus on defense, making sure you can take a hit." Reaching out the glowing hand, Grayson placed it atop of Jaune's head, and the young man felt something well up inside of him.

"Uh, what's happening right now?" There was concern, but the blonde was sure Grayson knew what he was doing.

"Right now, I'm going to unlock your aura." Clearing his throat, Grayson began to speak, his voice clearer than Jaune had ever heard before. "For it is in understanding that we achieve immortality. Through this we become a paragon of self and morality to rise above all. Infinite in wisdom and unbound by doubt, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, guide thee."

The moment the words left Grayson's mouth, Jaune felt it. It wasn't anything he could describe exactly, but he could try. "This... It felt like I just had a star born inside of my body." Letting out a laugh, Jaune turned his attention to Grayson. "Thanks."

Grayson didn't hear, too stunned by the amount of aura he had just unlocked. Letting out a low whistle, the huntsman shook his head slowly. "You know, I went on a few missions with ol' Nick, and he had a lot of aura, but you have a metric shit ton of the stuff." Shaking his had to clear his thoughts, Grayson narrowed his eyes, and his tone become all business. "Alright kid, we don't have long, so here's the basics. This stuff is mainly for defense, and you have to call it out when you want it out, otherwise you're getting your teeth smashed in. Since you just got it, we can't be sure exactly your instinctual control is, so think of it as riding a bike, gotta learn before you never forget. Call it out real quick, if you can." A bright white light suddenly flashed throughout the room, blinding both men inside. "Holy shit! Alright, you might have a bit more control than I thought. Okay, so just making sure you know this before hand, but your opponent also has aura. I can tell you for free that it's going to be a lot less than yours though, so you really only need to wear his aura down before going for the kill. Figuratively, this is one of those fight clubs." Rubbing his eyes, vision was slowly brought back to Grayson. Unfortunately, Jaune wasn't as well off. His eyes were shut, with his hands closed tightly over them. Sighing, Grayson pointed out another of aura's uses. "Another thing aura can do is heal minor injuries. Including temporary blindness. The kind you have right now. Just focus on your eyes getting better, and the aura will do the rest." Hearing this, Jaune nodded, and began to focus on the healing of his eyes, the aura flowing through them, a sensation that startled Jaune at first. Opening his eyes slowly, he found that he could see again, with a grinning Grayson the first thing he saw. "Good. Make sure to not get too hurt, aura isn't a cure-all. Lose a tooth, finger, limb, anything like that, and it's gone forever. Unless you can afford a good Atlas prosthetic. You got all that? Summarize real quick for me, kid."

Nodding to himself, Jaune counted off the uses of aura. "It's mainly for defense, the guy I'm fighting has aura too, and aura can help heal some small stuff."

Grayson nodded, a small smile playing at his face. "Good. Now, I'm gonna show you a few punches and kicks. Make sure you know how to throw a proper punch before I throw you to the wolves." Jaune's expression turned from excited to afraid faster than Grayson had thought possible. "Oh don't worry, I'm not gonna break any of your bones. See? Who ever said that crime and illegal activity can't be beneficial?"


	2. First Fight

Jaune rolled his shoulders as he stepped into the cage, his hoodie and shirt gone, showing the meager crowd his thin, gangling torso. He would have normally felt a bit more self-conscious about his body being on display like it was, but he was focused on the person across from him. The man entering the cage was big, well muscled, and seemed to be much more confident than the young blonde could ever hope to be. From outside the cage, Grayson yelled encouragements to Jaune, "Remember what I showed you, Jaune: One, two, one two, hit and run! Arcs are _warriors_!"

Jaune nodded, feeling the adrenaline begin to pump through his veins. Right, warriors. He was a warrior, he just never had a chance to prove it. "I can do this..." Putting up his hands in front of his face as Grayson showed him, hopped on the balls of his feet, and listened for the signal that would start the match. "I can do this." The blonde's mutter had gained a bit more confidence, which he couldn't help but feel a bit ironic. After hearing it all the time from his dad, just hearing it once from somebody he had never met before had resonated with him so much more than he could have imagined.

Static filled the room, before the booming echo of a loudspeaker blasting music reverberated throughout. The music soon faded to a more manageable level, set to the background as a charismatic voiced boomed out. "Ladies and gentlemen! For tonight's final match, we have two rookies in the cage! In one corner, we have the brute of his people, Ivan Zlato!" The crowd of a dozen or so people clapped, with only one cheering. "And in the other corner, we have a brand new face! Let's hope it doesn't get too damaged, right?" Some chuckles from the crowd. "Here he is; Jaune Arc!" There were a few claps, then nothing but silence. But the young man couldn't bring himself to care. The people weren't important. The only person important right now was Ivan, the man rotating his arms across from him. "To remind both contenders of the rules: As long as it doesn't kill, anything goes! Eye gouges, low blows, biting, use whatever you can to be the last man standing!" That sent the crowd roaring, clapping and stomping their feet on the floor.

From the side of the cage, Grayson shouted over the crowd. "Just stay calm, kid, stay calm and wear him down! Wear him down and hit when you can!" With those words spoken, the loudspeaker played stock sound of a bell being rung, Jaune knowing instinctively that it was time. Grayson decided to throw in some last words of encouragement. "Fuck him up, kid!"

Jaune turned his focus to Ivan, who was smirking, sizing the blonde up, not looking very impressed. "Child, I do not want to fight you. It would be better for everyone if you just forfeit." Jaune's answer to the man's offer was to tense his muscles, and take a step forward. The man shook his head, and walked toward Jaune with no hesitation or caution. "Very well."

The blonde stepped back from the approaching man. For the first time in his life, he wasn't turning his back on a fight. Ivan kept approaching, and Jaune knew he couldn't back up forever, so he rushed forward, hoping to catch the larger man by surprise. It worked for all of two seconds, before Ivan reached a fist high above his head, and brought it down at Jaune, catching the young man in his left shoulder. Thanks to his newly unlocked aura, the blow would, at most, leave a bruise. Unfortunately, it did nothing to keep the pain from reaching Jaune's brain. Jerking back, the blonde clutched at his shoulder, before remembering the fight, and began to backpedal as best he could away from Ivan.

The large man stayed where he was, staring at Jaune, while shaking the hand he had struck the blonde with. Maybe Ivan hadn't been using his aura when hitting Jaune, and had brought unprotected flesh against the force that Jaune had at his command. "Interesting, child. Very interesting." Ivan brought his hands up, in a similar defensive stand that Jaune was in. "Let us see who has the stronger soul."

Jaune didn't answer, not really sure what the large man was talking about. As he inched closer, he could see that Ivan's defense was wider than Jaune's, likely due to his size. Inching forward, the blonde threw out a few sloppy jabs, trying to gauge the large man's reaction time. Unfortunately for Jaune, Ivan was faster than he looked, and managed to grab the young man's wrist at the third jab, and brought Jaune in for a clothesline, knocking Jaune off of his feet, and down onto the floor of the cage. Shaking away the stars, the young blonde yelped, and barely managed to roll out of the way of Ivan's incoming boot.

Jaune kept rolling until he was far enough from Ivan that he could get to his feet without getting another face full of fist. Bringing his guard up, Jaune felt a little dizzy, but that was expected with the amount of rolling he had just done. Shaking it off, Jaune decided to be on the offensive for once. Rushing forward, the blonde swung at Ivan's head, hoping to catch him in the chin. Ivan caught the punch, and Jaune braced for another clothesline.

It never came. Instead, the larger man hoisted Jaune into the air, and proceeded to land three punches into the blonde's face. Thankfully, Jaune kept his aura up, keeping any lasting damage from being done to his appearance. Unfortunately, Ivan wasn't finished. Lifting Jaune even higher, Ivan grabbed the young man's leg, and heaved him over his head, drawing roars from the crowd. Twisting and flailing, Jaune turned his face down to Ivan, and did the first thing that came to his mind. He spit in the man's eye.

Recoiling from the unexpected action, Ivan dropped Jaune onto the floor of the cage, knocking the wind out of the young man's lungs. Slowly getting up, Jaune focused on getting his breath back, hoping Ivan wasn't too angry with his dirty tactic. Turning to face his opponent, the blonde could see anger and rage on Ivan's face. The large man charged forward, forcing Jaune to move, twisting out of Ivan's reach. Ivan stopped, quickly turned, and charged again.

Jaune wasn't expecting the same thing twice, and was thrown off the ground, and carried straight into the cage wall. What little breath he had gotten back was forced right back out, causing stars to dance around Jaune's vision. Suddenly, what felt like a sledgehammer slammed into his side, jerking his body to the side. For the next two minutes, Jaune was pelted with blows to his body, too pained to bring up any defense other than his aura, which he could feel ticking away with each strike.

As the pain began to numb, Jaune couldn't help but think how disappointed Grayson must have been in him. The huntsman had only met him, and decided not only to not tell his family where he was, but had taken it upon himself to train the young runaway. And now here he was, getting his body battered, aura slowly trickling away. Even with this newfound power, and brief introduction to fighting, he had been a failure. Just like always. Clenching his fists weakly, Jaune couldn't stop the bubbling anger and frustration from getting to his head. Was he doomed to be worthless for the rest of his life? Was he really meant to just sit back in the safety of a home, behind people that were risking their lives to keep people safe?

Gritting his teeth, Jaune began to feel his aura flare up, nearly as strong as when it had been first unlocked. Eyes widening, Jaune focused on that feeling, wanting it to last enough to survive the onslaught. Or, another part of his mind suggested, to land a real hit. Feeling his aura become stronger, Jaune focused the feeling into his arm, reeled back his fist, and threw the punch for all he was worth.

Ivan didn't even react to the punch until the fist had buried itself into his stomach, eyes widening and rolling back. He stood for a few seconds, then fell back, defeated.

Blinking dumbly, Jaune barely believed what he was seeing. He had done it. He had won. He was on his way to becoming a huntsman. Throwing his hands into the air, he let out a yell that shook himself to the bone. Looking to Grayson, he saw the old man with a look of amazement, maybe even a twinge of pride, blossoming on his face.

Then Jaune saw the floor coming quickly to his face, and darkness took over in only a moment.

* * *

Jaune wasn't sure where he was as he opened his eyes at first, an unfamiliar room around him. Sitting up from the bed he had apparently been resting in, the blonde winced from the pain he was feeling in his body. It reminded him of the time he had tried to climb the top of a tree, only to fall halfway down, and had gotten a nasty scrape on his head to show for it. Shaking his head to clear the memory, Jaune looked around, finding the room to be surprisingly clean, despite being part of an illegal business.

Jaune tried to get out of bed, only for the pain to keep him confided to the piece of furniture. Frowning, he propped up the pillow to support his back, and leaned back. In his head, he wasn't sure what had happened after the punch he threw. He remembered that Ivan had gone down, but he wasn't sure if it had stayed that way. He would learn soon, if Grayson came to check on him, at any rate.

The door to the room opened, the man Jaune was just thinking about walking in. Seeing Jaune awake, the old man smiled. "Damn, awake already?"

Jaune scratched the back of his head, chuckling nervously. "Uh, yeah. How long was I out for?"

Shaking his head, the huntsman closed the door, and leaned against the wall to the left of it. "Well, it's been a few hours, so you're doing pretty alright for your first aura overexertion. Ivan is still unconscious, in case you were wondering about that."

Frowning, Jaune felt a bit guilty for not thinking of the large man that he had fought. But it was the other thing that Grayson mentioned that bothered him. "Uh, aura overexertion? What's that?"

Grayson rolled his eyes. "Well, it's pretty self explanatory. You use too much aura at once, and your body takes the strain. It usually happens to people that need their aura to fuel their semblances. It's pretty common, actually, so I wouldn't count this as a one-time deal. Just make sure you have someone to look after you, otherwise you're gonna be on the ground for a good while."

Jaune blinked. "What's a semblance?"

The huntsman's left eye twitched, and he frowned. "Okay, seriously, did Nick literally tell you _nothing _about hunters in general? There are people out on the street that know more about this than you do right now." Shaking his head, Grayson continued. "Sorry. Anyway, onto your question. I guess the best way I can describe it would be that it's like aura, but extended even further. Aura is something anyone can usually get, but semblances, are a bit harder to bring out, assuming they even find it in the first place. It's a power than mostly unique, except for a few cases, like the Schnee family. From what I can guess, you either make your aura stronger, or you use your aura to make yourself stronger. One of those two, I'd bet on it."

"Right, that brings up another question I have. What exactly _is _aura?"

Grayson groaned and rubbed at his face. "Jeez kid, really asking questions that aren't really in my field of expertise. Okay, so in a really simple way, it's your soul. It's something _everyone _has, even animals. Not Grimm though. Grimm are soulless. Maybe. I don't really know, there's no exact science for the soul, so I'm pretty sure all the experts are just making some educated guesses on the whole thing. Anyway, back on track. I only told you the basics, that aura is used for defense, but it has more uses than that, like fueling semblances. It can also beef up your attacks, kinda like what you did, but a lot less so. It also keeps us from getting completely blindsided by sneak attacks and the like, but that's if you're really in tune with it, like most professionals are. There are more, but I'm sure you'll learn from either experience, or people making fun of your for not knowing basic shit." Narrowing his eyes, Grayson looked directly into Jaune's own set. "So, you asked a couple questions, I'm starting to feel a big curious myself. First, how do you know damn near nothing about hunters, despite coming from a family of them, including your dad? I find it hard to believe that you just never heard about this. The only thing I can really think of is that Nick intentionally..." the huntsman's eyes widened a bit. "No. Don't tell me he _kept _this shit from you?"

Jaune was silent for a good minute, the only sound was the breathing from the two. "Yeah. I asked a lot about hunters, but he just kept telling me not to worry about it. That I wouldn't need to learn about any of it, because I wasn't going to become a huntsman. He never told me why, never even said anything when it came up in conversation, just kept changing the subject every single time." The blonde breathed in deeply. "Eventually I just got sick of it, and decided that if he wouldn't teach me, I would go to people that would. And Beacon is the academy for hunters in Vale. I figured if anyone could teach me, it would be them."

Grayson let out a deep breath. "So, he just kept sweeping it under the rug? Yeah, sounds pretty much like him when he didn't know how to deal with things, just hope everything ends up okay." Growling softly, the huntsman closed his eyes, frustration rolling off of him in waves. "Honestly, I'm not sure how he thought it would go. So, you took the sword and left?" Jaune nodded, feeling a lump in his throat. "Great. Well, just rest up for now."

"Uh, hey, Grayson? You think you can carry me to the motel I'm staying at?" From the quick glare he had received, it was a definite no.

"Go to sleep, Jaune."

* * *

Morning in a building that was used for activities that were less savory was a bit awkward. So was dealing with the sore muscles, something aura couldn't quite heal, since it wasn't like he could just make his body constantly feel better with aura. Moving behind Grayson, who had stayed in another room, Jaune wan't sure he liked the quiet. So, he tried to fill it. "Hey, Grayson, what happened to that money you bet on me? Since it was a tie last night, did you get it back?"

Glancing back to the blonde, Grayson smiled. "Oh, that? I didn't bet last night."

"Wait, what? But, you said that you were gonna bet all the money you had on me."

Chuckling, the old man shrugged. "Yeah, but that was for motivation, and all good gamblers know to never make a bet when you don't know what the outcome is going to be."

Jaune blinked, processing the words. "Wait, you mean you weren't sure if I was going to win or not?"

"Not really, it was Ivan's second fight, and you had a lot more aura than I thought were you going to have, so I was really tempted, but decided not to roll a set of dice that aren't weighed in my favor."

Jaune nodded, not really knowing what else to say.

The silence wasn't uncomfortable for him, and it was almost nice as the two exited the building. Grayson let out a yawn, and stretched his arms over his head. "Alright. So here's what's going to happen; we're getting on a bullhead, flying over to Beacon, and we're going for a stroll in the Emerald Forest, see how you do against some very minor Grimm."

The blonde felt his breath catch in his throat, along with a lump. "W-what? Why?! I mean, we haven't even started my training yet!"

Grayson turned to face Jaune fully, his eyes boring into the blonde's soul. "Kid, if we wait until initiation to see how you react to the Grimm in a real situation, you're going to freeze up, and then they're going to kill you, maybe somebody else that tries to protect you. And do you know how your family would react to that? They would be devastated, enough so that I'm sure a few of them would cease to function as people. Just going through the motions in life, can't bring themselves to feel any real happiness. Do you want that, Jaune?" The young man shook his head slowly, the images that came to his mind from those words shocking him. "Good. Now let's get going. I'll be beside you every step of the way."

"Uh, something you should probably know before we get on that bullhead." Grayson raised a brow, and Jaune scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I have pretty bad motion sickness."

The old huntsman sighed, turned, and began walking. "Yeah, Nick said something like that years ago. I was kinda hoping that it wasn't true, but it looks like you're going to need to learn to deal with it."

Jaune whimpered, walking quickly to catch up to Grayson.

* * *

"Wow. You know, I don't think you even had anything to eat before we got on, so what were those chunks?" Grayson looked down at Jaune, the young Arc flat on the ground, arms spread, looking like he was embracing the stone beneath him.

"Ground, I'll never leave you as long as I live."

The huntsman snorted. "Sorry to burst your bubble kid, but that's not happening, especially if you actually get in. So have fun with what little time down here you'll actually have." The young man groaned in fear of the thought of flying in one of those death traps. "Now come on, we have a forest to get to."

Jaune sighed, and pulled himself from off the ground, outfitted in his armor, sword hanging at his side. "I really regret a lot of my choices right now."

Another snort from the old man. "Maybe you should actually think things through before you just rush in and do them then, huh?" With that, Grayson began to walk. The blonde rolled his eyes, and followed after the huntsman.

The walk was mostly silent, at least, until a blonde woman that looked important spotted them, narrowed her eyes, and quickly intercepted the pair, riding crop in hand. "Professor Hunt, there was a staff meeting this morning, one that were absent from." The woman turned her focus to Jaune, looking the young man up and down, before sighing, and looked back to Grayson. "And who exactly is this boy?"

Standing a little straighter, Grayson gestured to Jaune with one hand. "This, Glynda, is Jaune Arc, latest in his family to apply to become a huntsman. I'm just showing him around, show him the forest, see how many he can cut down."

The woman, Glynda, glared at the huntsman. "Really? Well, if that's the case, I shall accompany you."

Grayson smirked. "You sure you want to do that? I heard Ozpin hasn't been making the best decisions on how to spend the budget, and the year hasn't even started yet."

The glare Glynda pointed at Grayson intensified, almost as if she had been reminded of something she really wanted to forget. "Yes, I've been hearing that as well. It seems that I'll need to have a few choice of words with our dear headmaster. Take Jaune here, and keep an eye on him out in the forest. I don't believe that I need to remind you how many overconfident students have met their end out in those woods."

Any sense of amusement left the old huntsman. "Yeah, how can any of us ever forget?"

With a sigh and shake of her head, Glynda began walking again, warning them before moving out of earshot. "Make sure to stay by his side, Grayson."

Grayson waved, his expression solemn. "Well, I was going to do that anyway, so that works out. Come on kid, let's get going. There are Grimm to kill, and skills to hone."

* * *

The forest was about the same as any he had seen. Green, leafy, and smelling vaguely like something he couldn't quite pin down. Well, it wasn't important anyway, he was here to fight the Grimm, not enjoy the scenery, as nice as it was. The two walked side by side, Jaune having his sword and shield at the ready, an awkward stance that Grayson had nearly laughed at as soon as he saw it. As for the old man, he simply pulled out a revolver from the side of his duster, lazily twirling it around his finger, the firearm blurring due to the speed it was spinning at. "Remember kid, Grimm feel any negative emotion, and that includes nervousness and anxiety, so keep a cool head whenever you're in here, otherwise you might get a surprise that's not all that welcome." Glancing about, Jaune nodded, indicating that he was listening. "Good, and don't forget that I'm only going to help if it looks like things are getting too dangerous for you. Any questions?"

Jaune thought about the conversation earlier between Glynda and Grayson. "Yeah, that woman, she said that there were overconfident students that died here, right? How many was that, exactly?"

The huntsman let out a sigh. "Well, if I'm going to be honest here, I'm pretty sure the only one that knows the exact number would be Ozpin. He has to write to the families, express his regret and sorrow, apologize, and hope that the family doesn't try to ruin his or the school's reputation. Even then, there's going to be backlash from the media, calling for the abolishing of hunter academies from those groups that think we need to live naturally, despite the fact that if we did that, the Grimm would overrun us within a month. So yeah."

As Jaune listened, he couldn't keep the fear from crawling to his mind. "I don't think I ever realized exactly how bad hunters have it. I mean, they have to protect people, and if they fail, they're disgraced by whoever they managed to save."

Grayson let out a snort. "Kid, you have no idea. I've had my named dragged though the mud more times that I even care for. But nobody can suspend me or force me to retire, I'm one of the few huntsman that are even half as old as I am."

Shaking his head, Jaune couldn't help but wonder how much his dad had left out about the true life of hunters. He had always been told of the heroes, the warriors that kept order in the world. But from Grayson's example, it seemed that it was a thankless job, only parading the living, completely ignoring any casualties to keep people from reacting poorly. "So, when do you think we're going to find any Grimm. This forest is a big place, and since we're not putting out too many negative emotions, at least I hope not, we're not exactly drawing any of them to us."

Grayson glanced to the blonde, a smirk playing at his lips. "Good observation. Honestly, it could take a while, so you might as well learn how to walk for some time while keeping your guard up. It's more common than you would think, since the towns outside the kingdoms don't exactly have the most up to date technology at their disposal. I think the usual transport is horse-drawn carriage, but that might be a bit dated, since it's been more than a while since I've been in any towns long enough to see how they live in daily life." Shrugging, the old man glanced around.

Suddenly, a rustling from the left of the pair instantly got their attention. Raising his shield in preparation, Jaune narrowed his eyes, trying to keep his breathing steady, adrenaline starting up. The shrubbery rustled, before parting to reveal a lone Beowolf. The Grimm's red eyes lingered on the duo, before settling onto Jaune, the closer of the two. It growled, before it lunged forward, aiming to maul the blonde.


	3. First Grimm

Jaune brought his shield up quickly, the Grimm's claws scraping against it uselessly. Stumbling back, Jaune swung blindly at the Beowolf, missing every swipe. The Beowolf howled, and lunged again, not quite able to understand that doing the same thing again and again wouldn't work. The blonde brought his shield up again, barely feeling any weight behind the strikes from the single Grimm. Grayson watched, a bored expression on his face, taking in every detail.

Jaune stood his ground for three solid minutes, before the huntsman sighed, leveled the barrel of his revolver to the Beowolf's head, and pulled the trigger, blowing the Grimm's head to wisps of blood and black mist. "Okay, so, how about next time actually _fight _the Grimm, instead of hiding behind that shield of yours. You wouldn't believe how much damage a single sword swing can really do to the bastards." Grayson stepped to the young man, who was feeling frustrated, at himself and Grayson. "Look, just take a swing of that sword at me real quick."

Jaune's eyes widened, frustration turning to panic. "What?! Why?"

Grayson rolled his eyes. "Aura. Look, I just wanna show you something. So wind up, and take a good swing at me." Jaune still looked reluctant, but nodded anyway, wound up his arm, and swung at the old huntsman. Grayson quietly and calmly brought up his free arm, and caught Crocea Mors by the blade. "Jaune, I can catch this sword, and keep it here, because I have aura. Grimm don't, meaning that you can cut them to pieces pretty fast if you put your mind to it." Letting of of the ancestral blade, Grayson turned and began to walk again, motioning for the blonde to follow. "Kid, you're going to be doing this for the next month, then four years if you pass initiation, then the rest of your life once you graduate. If you can't handle one of the weakest Grimm out there, you _will _die during initiation."

"I know that, the woman from earlier said how often people die, then you said that the only one sure of the numbers is the headmaster. It kinda puts things into perspective, you know? I mean, what if I'm not good enough, and I fail, and I have to go back home, and face my family?" Or worse, a small part in the back of his mind thought absently.

The huntsman rolled his eyes. The kid had almost no confidence in his self, almost pessimistic in that sense. "Jaune, I have put you in an illegal cage fight in which you got a tie, and you've faced literally a single Grimm, which you held back pretty well. It's also been less than twenty hours since I decided to take you under my wing. Just give it time, see what happens after a week, then we'll decide if it's actually doing anything for you or not."

Jaune let out a sigh. "I guess. I just can't shake the feeling, though."

Grayson put his free hand on the blonde's shoulder, the old man trying to be reassuring. "Let's just find some more Grimm. I don't think it'll take too long this time around, considering how loud this thing is." The huntsman lifted his revolver, twirling it around his finger for a second.

* * *

As it turned out, Grayson was right. It took considerably less time to find the next Beowolf. Grayson stood to the side again, watching as the Grimm swiped at Jaune, the claws bouncing off the shield. The blonde peered over the shield, before charging forward, sword raised, and cleaved down, straight through the Grimm. As the body hit the ground, beginning to evaporate into nothing, the old man let out a single whistle. "See? Not that hard. Could use some work, but hey, that's what we're here for."

Jaune was breathing deeply, looking down where the Grimm had fallen, the body already nearly gone. He had done it. He had killed a Grimm. So why didn't he feel as great as he thought he would. Was it because it was so much easier than he had been expecting? Or was it because he was thinking about the Beowolf earlier, the one he had barely attacked. Shaking his head, the blonde tried to get rid of the feelings. "Uh, yeah. Thanks, Grayson."

Stepping closer to Jaune, the huntsman stroked his beard with his free hand. "Hm, you know, if I'm going to be teaching you for the next month or so, I think you should call me something that reflects that."

"What, like master or something?"

The old man cringed at the word. "Yeah, no. That word isn't exactly what I had in mind." Looking into the trees, twirling the revolver around his finger, Grayson thought for a moment, before an idea struck him. "You know, my wife had the exact word for this is her first language. It was Sensei. She was Mistralian. She-" Grayson stopped, tilted his head to the side, and frowned. "Damn, looks like we got some more company kid. Get ready."

From nearby, three Beowolves burst into the huntsman's field of vision, quickly followed by an Ursa. The Grimm looked between the two, the smaller Beowolves quickly locking their sights onto Jaune. "Uh, Grayson, what do I do?!" The blonde felt panic seep at his minds edge. Sure, he was able to handle one of the Grimm, but he wasn't sure how he could block three of them at once.

Grayson chuckled. "That's Sensei to you, kid. Don't worry, as soon as you feel them hit, just swing right back at the bastards." Looking the Ursa over, the old man sighed. Some part of him was actually hoping for a challenge. After all, what fun was it if the kid got all the good ones. "Just focus on them, I'll take care of Mr. grumpy over here." As soon as the words left his mouth, the Ursa roared, and charged the old man.

Grinning, Grayson sidestepped the Grimm, and fired two shots into its side, causing the beast to yelp out in pain. It turned, and charged again. The old man rolled his eyes, and sidestepped again. However, he underestimated this particular Grimm's ability to learn and adapt. As Grayson moved, the Ursa slowed its gait, tensed its legs, and lunged at the huntsman. Caught off guard, brought his other hand up to the revolver, and began to fan the hammer. He unloaded the rest of the cylinder into the beast's chest, which, unfortunately, wasn't quite enough to bring the Grimm down.

The Grimm barreled over Grayson, the old man grunting at the impact. As the Grimm knocked him to the ground, the huntsman began to focus his aura into his hands, preparing himself to fight his way out from under the Ursa. Punching upward to the best of his ability, Grayson caught the Grimm in the chin, its head snapping back, before it roared, and dove forward, its teeth biting down into Grayson's shoulder, the aura keeping his flesh and clothes from being torn to shreds.

Growling, the old man did his best to get the Ursa off of him, but he couldn't get any leverage. "Hey, kid! I could use some help! Just hit the damn thing, it doesn't matter where!"

The blonde turned his head, his eyes turning into saucers as he saw the old huntsman struggle underneath the Grimm. "Grayson!" Turning on his feet, Jaune rushed forward, his mind and heart racing. Raising the sword far above his head, he plunged it into the Grimm's back, forcing the beast to shift attention to the younger target. Raising itself onto its hind legs, the beast pulled itself to its full height, forcing Jaune back, Crocea Mors still stuck in its flesh. Stepping back with his shield up, Jaune tried to think of a way to get his sword back without taking too many hits from the Ursa.

Getting to his feet quickly, Grayson holstered his revolver, and reached to his back, drawing his guandao. Dashing forward, Grayson swung, aiming the blade straight at the Ursa's midsection, the blade slicing cleanly through the flesh. The Ursa stopped, a roar choking off at the back of its throat. It tried to move, but that only led to the top half of the Grimm falling to the ground, followed by the bottom half. "Kid, get your sword. You still got some Beowolves to take care of." Grayson let out a sigh, strapped his weapon to his back, and began to rub at the shoulder the Ursa had bitten down on. The aura helped, but it looked like there was a tear or two along the piece of clothing. Shaking his head, the old huntsman looked to the disappearing remains of the Grimm that had caught him off guard. Usually Ursa that young kept charging until either their prey had died, or they did. Looking to the young Arc, Grayson saw that the young man hadn't moved, simply staring at Grayson. "What? It caught be off guard, and bit me. Aura." Rolling his eyes, the old man walked over to the ancestral blade, picking it up, hefting it in his hand to test the weight, before nodding, and making his way to Jaune. "Beowolves. Get them." Flipping the sword over, Grayson thrust the handle toward Jaune, who had blinked out of his stupor, and taking the sword.

"But, you nearly..." Jaune didn't finish the sentence, not wanting to think about what would have happened if he hadn't been there.

Sighing again, Grayson rubbed at his face, pointing to the Grimm that had taken a more cautious distance since the death of the Ursa. "Kill them first."

Turning, the young Arc was somewhat surprised that the Grimm hadn't run off once Grayson had killed the Ursa with a single swing. "Of course, Sensei." Bringing his shield up, Jaune started approaching the Beowolves.

Grinning, the old man brought out his revolver, and began to reload, his eyes sticking to Jaune. "Oh, and take what just happened as a lesson. Never underestimate the Grimm, or any enemy you have to take on. Otherwise, well, you saw what happened."

Not taking his eyes off the of the Grimm, Jaune frowned. "Can you really just talk about that? You nearly died."

Snickering, Grayson finished reloading his revolver, idly swirling it around his finger. "Kid, trust me, shit like that happens a lot more than you would think. Especially when you're still as green as you are. Hell, most of the people that are going to be attending have been doing this for years. Training for their whole lives. So you're probably going to be play catch up to a lot of them, at least for a while. Anyway, point is, don't worry about it. It's something we prepare you kids for, even if you shouldn't ever be in that situation, but that's too much to hope for."

Getting closer, Jaune lunged, stabbing at the Beowolf closest to him, the beast unable to react fast enough, and earning a sword in the throat, killing it quickly. The two Grimm that were left growled, backing away from the young man slowly. Tugging the sword from the dissipating flesh, Jaune eyed the Beowolves, before rushing forward, raising his sword high, and cleaving the head off of one, the other howling, and lunging at the blonde. Bringing up his shield, Jaune kept the Grimm at bay, gritting his teeth.

From his position, the old huntsman smiled. The kid was actually doing pretty alright, especially since this was his first time actually getting this close to Grimm. Maybe a few more, and he would call it a day for the kid's sake. Watching, Grayson grinned as Jaune took a step back, leaving the Grimm to miss completely, before cleaving its head in two. "Good job kid. Now, just do that about three or four more times, and we'll call it quits."

* * *

After five more encounters with the Grimm, Grayson had decided to take mercy on the poor boy. "Alright, pack it up kid, we're heading back. We got a lot more work to do."

Panting, Jaune looked to Grayson with confusion. "Wait, more work? But I just killed a bunch of Grimm. Shouldn't that be enough?"

The old man chuckled. "Nope. If it was that simple, we wouldn't need to teach hunters so extensively. After a mission, you gotta make a return trip, and if things go wrong, find some kind of civilization on foot. So, we gotta work on that stamina of yours. Which means exercise. But before we get to that, I need to think of a plan for you, try to get max results we can in the single month we have." Twirling the revolver, Grayson began the journey back to Beacon, idly whistling some tune.

Groaning, Jaune folded the mechashift shield into its sheath form, and stored away Crocea Mors. "Man, this huntsman thing isn't really turning out like I thought it would."

Rolling his eyes, Grayson decided to take a few jabs at the kid's plan. "Yeah, because just showing up counts for so much these days. Kid, I've told you how many people die, even preparing as long as they have, which is so much more than the time limit you've given me. But don't worry, because if there's one thing I'm good at, it's making sure kids like you don't get themselves killed doing stupid things. It's almost become second nature ever since-" Cutting his own sentence short with a shake of his head, the huntsman switched topics, "Not important. What _is _important, is the new program that I'm going to be giving you."

Jaune blinked, as his brain formed the most intelligent reply it could come up with. "Huh?"

Sighing, Grayson stopped twirling his revolver. "Kid, we have a month, so we're going to need to get you some serious gains, both in mass and stamina. Because, if I'm going to be completely honest with you, you look like you've never lifted anything even half your own weight before. We'll need to fix that if you're going to be swing that sword of yours." Walking for a minute, a thought suddenly struck Grayson, as if he had been hit in the back of his head with a sledgehammer with his aura down. "Wait a fucking minute, do you have any ranged options?"

Jaune tilted his head, thinking for only a second. "Uh, not really. Why? Shouldn't my sword be enough?"

Breathing in deeply, the old man counted to ten silently. "Kid, what do you think is gonna happen if you're too tired to swing that sword? Or if you can't lift that shield to keep the Grimm from ripping you to shreds?" Cursing under his breath, the huntsman quickened his pace, not bothering to check if Jaune could keep up or not. "Alright kid, we'll think of a routine for you later. Right now, we need to get you something, hell even a starter hunter pistol will do, and then we're going to have to teach you how to shoot properly." Groaning, Grayson began to wonder what possessed Nicholas to keep his own son from any of this. It was almost a family business at this point.

"Uh, Sensei, how hard can it be? You just aim and shoot, right?"

Feeling his eye twitch, Grayson stopped, Jaune colliding and falling to his ass. Turning, the old man crossed his arms, his grip on the revolver tightening. "Jaune, trust me when I say that thinking like that will get you killed. No, it's not that simple. You need to think about what rounds are best suited for a mission, you need to maintain the gun to make sure it doesn't jam, or even worse, and you need to make sure the recoil isn't going to cause you to waste every round into the air." Sighing, Grayson helped the young Arc to his feet. "Look, I don't mean to come across as too intense, but I've seen good people die because of basic shit like that. And I made a promise a long time ago to keep as many alive as humanly possible."

Looking away, Jaune wasn't sure what to say to that. Who did he make that promise to? Himself? "Uh, sorry..."

Shaking his head, the old man let his arms fall to his side. "I'm not gonna say that it's fine, because then I'd be lying to your face. But I'm gonna do what I can to make sure you get through initiation in one piece. Trust me on that." Turning, Grayson began to walk again, at a slower pace.

* * *

At Beacon, Grayson walked with a purpose. He was going to make sure Jaune was kept alive for years, and all he needed to do was get a firearm for the kid, which, if he was being honest with himself, was a lot easier said than done. He needed to teach the kid to shoot, what felt comfortable in his hand, and a whole other load of problems that he almost dreaded to address.

Walking behind Grayson, Jaune couldn't help but glance around nervously. There was so much more to being a huntsman than the stories and other things told him. Some small part of him told him that it was too much, that he should quit while he was ahead. But that part was something he felt he needed to ignore, not just for himself, but for all the people that were out risking their lives. Shaking his head, the young Arc spoke up. "So, uh, Sensei, where exactly are we going? To a gun shop?"

Humming in response, Grayson pondered the question. Shops like that were mostly for civilians that wanted to protect their homes, or the police that had to deal with crooks and thugs without aura, a far cry from the hulking beasts that were the Grimm. But they also had a few hunter-grade firearms from time to time. "Sure, we'll check a few shops, see what they have, if anything. And if there's nothing worth picking up, we'll see if we can't get something custom, and if that fails. I'll just pull some strings, say I need something other than Order."

Furrowing his brow, Jaune wondered what the old man was referring to. Then it hit him, they were talking about guns after all. "Oh, that's your revolver, right?"

Rolling his eyes at the question, the huntsman nodded. "Yep. It's gotten me through hell and back. Just goes to show that if you take care of your gun, it'll take care of you."

"Right, so, if that's your gun's name, what do you call the spear on your back?" Jaune was a bit curious, since most of the famous hunters made sure their weapons had cool names.

Growing silent, Grayson wondered if he should answer the kid honestly or not. It was more personal than his revolver, and something that hurt every time he cut down Grimm. "First of all, it's not a spear, it's a guandao, a weapon that came from Mistral. Secondly, the name..." Breathing in deeply, the old man decided to bite the bullet. "It's name is Hikari. Don't ask why. If you make it through initiation, I'll tell you."

There was something in the way Grayson said the name that sent a chill down Jaune's spine. Nodding, the young man wasn't sure what to think about the weapon on the old man's back. It was obviously special to him, but Jaune couldn't quite piece of together just yet. Oh well, there were more important things to think about. Like the kind of gun he was going to get.

* * *

It turns out Vale had a lot more gun shops that Jaune was expecting. Entering the fourth one that afternoon, Jaune glanced around, not finding many people, just like the others.

As Grayson approached the employee manning the register, he bit back a sigh. The guy looked to be nearly asleep. "Excuse me, but I was wondering if you had anything that was hunter-grade in stock?"

The man flinched, rubbing at his eyes. "Huh? Oh, uh, let me check the inventory real quick. They don't exactly just give tags to the things." Moving to the door behind him, the man opened it and stepped inside.

Fifteen minutes later, Grayson checked the clock hanging above the entrance. Sighing, he was starting to think it would be another bust. About to call to Jaune, the door opened, the man holding two firearms, which he set on the counter. One was a double barrel sawed-off, the other being a magnum pistol. "Hm, that would definitely do it." Turning, Grayson called out to the young Arc. "Hey kid! We got something."

Hearing his teacher's voice, Jaune approached the old man, looking at the guns set on the counter. "This is it, huh?" Not one, but two hunter-grade firearms, he wasn't sure if it was lucky or not.

Looking to Grayson, Jaune raised a brow. Sighing, the old man began to explain. "Alright kid, so we have the shotgun, which has a bit more spread the further away something is, but it should pack a bigger punch than the pistol, at least when less distance is involved. It also only carries two shots, so you're gonna need to be smart when to fire, and when to hold back. The magnum, on the other hand, looks like it can hold seven rounds, plus the one in the chamber, so you won't need to worry as much about your aim. You still should, but you have a lot more chances to hit your target." Looking between the two, Grayson was leaning more toward the pistol, but it wasn't his choice to make. "Well, wanna head to the range, see what feels better?"

Jaune nodded, and headed to the door across from the counter, into the range. Grayson sighed, and as he got ammo for the two firearms, wondered how well the kid he was mentoring would do. Grabbing the firearms, and storing the ammo in his duster pockets, Grayson headed into the range, grabbing a pair of ear plugs for the young Arc, and stepped into the range.

Picking a lane, Grayson put the guns down, and pulled out the ammo for both firearms. "Alright, before we start, put these in." Handing the ear plugs to Jaune, Grayson saw the look the young man was giving him. "You've never shot a gun in your life, so before you fire a shot, you should know that the bang they make is a shot load louder in a space like this. Out in the forest, it was free to just disperse all around in the open air. In here, the sound is gonna bounce off the walls, and fucking hurt to even listen to. My hearing is already kinda going, so I don't really care." Making sure Jaune had put the ear plugs in correctly, the old man picked up the pistol, and loaded it. "Now, I'm going to fire a few times for both of these, make sure to watch the way I hold it, the way my body is positioned, and for the love of the gods, _never _look down the barrel." Sighing, Grayson took aim, the target appearing a few seconds later, and immediately Grayson adjusted, and pulled the trigger twice.

A few more repeats of that, and Grayson switched to the shotgun, loading the barrels, simply aiming idly, the target appearing, and the old man moving the gun to the target's direction, and firing. More repeats, and the huntsman setting the shot gun down, and moving away from the lane, and gesturing for Jaune to step up. "Okay, I can do this. Just like you did."

"Yeah, just be careful of the recoil, make sure you don't bust your nose." Snickering, Grayson thought back to his first time shooting a gun, bashing his own nose. Jaune loaded the pistol, breathed in deeply, and aimed. The target appeared, and Jaune fired.


	4. More Than a Few Firsts

Jaune looked at the target. He had gotten better with his pistol, not by much, but by enough that it was definitely noticeable. Getting closer to the center, day by day. Shaking his head, Jaune walked out of the range, making sure to put the safety on his pistol, and removing the plugs from his ears. Outside, Grayson smiled. "Well kid, I didn't think you'd have a chance in hell to hit the broad side of a barn, but look at you. You're actually 'getting good', like all those hip teens say these days." The shit eating grin told Jaune that the huntsman was intentionally being like that one old relative that was trying to get closer to their grandkids, but didn't know the first thing about them.

"Sensei please don't do this to me." Jaune held his hands in a pleading gesture. He had only known Grayson for a week, but he had come to realize how much of a sadist the old man could be when he wanted. "Please, for the love of all that is holy, just talk like a normal person."

Chuckling, the huntsman decided to relent. "Fine. But seriously, you're not exactly improving by leaps and bounds, but it's not exactly anything to scoff at either, you should be more proud, kid. Not every day you find somebody as determined as you." His grin returning, Grayson decided to let the kid know exactly how much he had improved. "In fact, you've improved so much, I think you're finally read to go a round or two with me."

Jaune's eyes widened, an instinctive fear gripping him. Looking past his mentor, the young Arc saw freedom in the exit of the gun shop. "Uh, you know, as much as I would love that, I actually haven't eaten anything today, so I kinda need to go do that." Walking past Grayson, Jaune prayed that this wouldn't be a repeat of their first encounter.

Unfortunately, fate had different plans for the blonde. "Nonsense. Hunters don't get the luxury of just eating whenever they want when they're out on missions, you'll be fine if you miss lunch." Grabbing Jaune by the hood, Jaune jerked, thankfully staying on his feet. Wrapping an arm around Jaune's neck, Grayson's grin turned sadistic. "Besides, what good will simple Grimm and cage fights do you? You need to experience a real fight some skilled warriors. It helps show what you can achieve, if you just set you're mind to it."

Squirming, the young Arc, tried his best to break free from his mentor's hold. "Uh, yeah, that's nice and all, but don't you think you can give motivational speeches when you're _not _wrapping an arm around my neck? It doesn't exactly let me feel free to disagree with you. I mean, I'm sure that cage fighting is going to help me a lot. It already has, I think I can see some muscle building in my body."

Shaking his head, Grayson dragged Jaune outside the shop, and into the streets of Vale, the sun beating down on the pair. "Oh please, sure you can build muscle, but we both know that your aura is going to be doing most of the work during the initiation, then we'll get you some real gains. Besides, you haven't been able to use your semblance ever since your first fight, and you told me that you were feeling some pretty intense emotions at the time. Maybe we can replicate the experience, get those feelings rushing to your brain, eh?"

Gulping, Jaune wasn't sure if the old man was trying to scare him or not, but if he was, it was definitely working. "Uh..." The words seemed to stick to the young man's throat, unable to even enter his mouth, much less get out. He couldn't exactly argue with Grayson's logic, even it he really wanted to.

The huntsman's grin grew wider. "Great! I'll just call in a favor from Glynda, she owes me a few more. Probably three or five. Eh, I'm sure she's been keeping track, it's what I would do in her shoes." Glancing back to Jaune, Grayson remembered that they needed to get to Beacon. "Oh, right. Back to Beacon, so make sure to get a bucket ready."

Jaune groaned, not wanting to suffer, but knew that it didn't matter what he wanted, because at the end of the day, Grayson always had a way to rope Jaune into sessions of torture that he called training.

* * *

Standing over the trash can, Jaune wanted nothing more than the sweet release of death. Only then would he be truly at rest. Spitting out the bile that had collected in his mouth, the young Arc looked up, glaring swords at the huntsman. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

Rolling his eyes, Grayson reached into his pockets, pulling out a tin of mints. Popping it open, he offered the little candies to the young man, who had taken the whole container. The old man shrugged. "Not really, but strength is born in the face of despair, or something like that. Anyway, you need to get your game face on, because we're going to be using one of the combat rooms, and I'm not sure how well Glynda is going to take it. So just let me do the talking, and everything is gonna be fine."

Shoving three of the mints into his mouth, Jaune nodded, not wanting to open his mouth any more than he had to. The young man stepped away from the trash, and began to follow the old man, who was walking toward the grand buildings of Beacon. Walking through the halls, Jaune couldn't help the feeling of wonder that was blossoming in his chest. It all looked so majestic.

The feeling died as he heard heels clicking against the stone floor. "Professor Hunt, I see that you're here with young Jaune Arc. Again." Glaring at the old man, Glynda Goodwitch sighed. "Whatever am I going to do with you and your reckless stunts?"

Snorting, Grayson looked to the side, a smirk on his face. "I don't know, but I'm sure if I wasn't as reckless as I was, you'd still be dealing with the fallout of the Qrowjob Incident." At those words, the blonde woman's eyes widened, her body stiffened, and Jaune was sure he could see one of her hands shaking. "Anyway, speaking of that, I'm gonna be calling in another favor. I need a combat room ready real quick."

Glynda was silent for a moment, before nodded, and, in a voice so quiet both men could hardly hear it, "I'll make sure to do that. That's two favors you have left, Grayson. Spend them wisely, because you won't be getting any more, save in the event you happen to keep me alive in some way." Turning, the woman walked away stiffly.

Jaune watched Glynda leave, a bit concerned for the woman. "Uh, Sensei, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly is the Qrowjob Incident?"

Snickering, Grayson began walking again, his stride having a bit of pep in it. "Oh, that something I've under legal contract to not go into detail, but then again, you've seen what I think of certain activities that are deemed illegal. Anyway, there's a colleague I have, his name is Qrow. So, there's this Atlas gathering we're all at, and Qrow, he get's drunk. Well, drunker than usual, they had Atlesian vodka, which is almost the strongest stuff on Remnant. So, Qrow gets absolutely shitface drunk, and I'm talking blackout, wake up in bed with a complete stranger kind of drunk, and I shit you not." Fighting off giggles, Grayson struggles to tell the story. "I swear, he gets up onto a table, and shouts out, in these exact words; 'Glynda, if you can get me a lifetime supply of this shit, I promise, I'm going to give you a Qrowjob that will swear you off of any other human being for the rest of your life.' Word for word, albeit slurred to nearly gibberish. And the whole party stops dead."

Jaune wasn't sure if what he was being told was completely accurate, but he didn't really care, the story was too good not to crack up at. "What happened then?"

Grinning like a madman, the huntsman continues. "So, while everyone is just gawking at the bastard, I walk up, a little buzzed myself, and I just say; 'Qrow, did what we have mean nothing to you? Am I just some piece of meat to be used and tossed away without a second glance?' And that's when somebody starts giggling, and pretty soon everybody is laughing their asses off, because people in Atlas may be stuck up cunts, but at the end of the day, they're people too, and everybody can laugh as some stupid shit."

"Wow, I think that story just made my day." The old man's grin turned sadistic at those words.

"Good, because I'm about to ruin it." Jaune frowned, confused, before he remembered why they were at Beacon in the first place.

"Sensei, no..."

Wrapping an arm around Jaune's neck, Grayson began to laugh. "Oh, Sensei yes. Don't worry Jaune, I'll make sure to take it easy on you. After all, I'm not a _complete _monster. Only about, eh, I wanna say a sixth of one. More or less." Opening a door that the young Arc hadn't noticed, the huntsman took his student into a large room with what looked like a simple ring in the center, a large screen near the top of the room. "So, here's how it's going to go down; we're going to get some sensors to measure our auras on that big screen, we're going to go into the ring, and we're going to fight. Simple, but definitely not easy. For you, at least, I'm probably going to be using one hand to give you a handicap."

Scrambling out from Grayson's grip, Jaune glared at the huntsman, ready to give his mentor a piece of his mind, before something hit him in the face, cutting his rant off before it could even begin. Yanking the object away from his face, the young man saw that it was a tangle of wires with what looked like sensor pads. "Uh, Sensei? What am I supposed to do with-" Looking up, the young Arc understood why the very concept of brain bleach was a thing, as he saw his mentor, a man older than him by decades, shedding the upper portion of his clothes, attaching the sensor pads to his lean, scar-riddled body. "Well, that answers that question." Looking down to the wires, then back to his mentor, Jaune spoke up nervously. "Uh, can you, maybe turn around until I'm ready."

Raising a brow as he put his shirt back on, the old man shook his head. "What, you got performance anxiety?" Even with that little jab, Grayson turned around, not wanting to actually make his student uncomfortable. "Take as long as you need." Whipping out his scroll, the huntsman connected the sensors to the large screen.

As Jaune attached the pads to his skin, he felt his aura react, a sensation not unlike the shivering of skin. "So, how exactly are we going to do this? Is it anything goes like the cage fights? Or is there a set of rules or something?" Pulling his shirt back over his head, Jaune looked to his weapons reassured at the sight of Crocea Mors, along with the magnum holstered on his opposite hip.

Grayson shrugged, then remembered that Jaune wouldn't see it. "Well, once one of our auras goes into the red, we'll call it off, then I'll tell you what you did right, and what you did wrong. We'll probably be doing this two or three times a week, maybe every other day. I might give you a resting period for the last week, just make one last mad dash to the finish line with your stamina, and Grimm killing skills."

Turning, Jaune nodded, signaling that he was ready. "Okay, just making sure." Looking up to the screen, he saw two bars, with Grayson's portrait next to one of them, while the other was blank. "Hey, Sensei, why do you have your picture up there, and I don't?"

"Because kid, you're not officially a part of Beacon, so we don't have anything to identify you, aside from your name on a piece of paper, which I'm sure Ozpin has already sniffed out the bullshit that's coming from it, anyway. Not like it'll matter if you pass the initiation, since he legally can't refuse anyone that passes. Trust me, you're actually not the first one to do this, but you might be the first one to actually pass the thing." Putting his scroll on the floor a good distance from the ring, Grayson rolled his arms back, popping coming from his shoulders. "Alright, do your best kid, otherwise I'll feel bad."

Shaking his head, Jaune stepped into the ring, unsheathing his sword, and bringing his shield up. "Alright, ready whenever you are."

Entering the opposite side, Grayson chuckled. "No, kid, you're not." With those words, the huntsman drew Hikari, and rushed forward, daring the weapon back, and swinging down on top of Jaune, the strike stopped by the young man raising his shield in time. "Rule one of a real fight, you're not getting any heads up." Drawing back, Grayson thrust at Jaune from under the shield, getting a solid hit, before the young Arc slammed the shield down.

Letting go of the weapon was painful for Grayson, but he had to teach the kid more than a few lessons in this fight. As Jaune swung down with his sword, the old man stepped out of the way, cocked back his fist, and unleashed the devastating punch, causing Jaune to stagger back a few steps. Kicking the guandao back into his hands, Grayson smirked. As the young Arc regained his bearings, he saw the huntsman standing in the middle of the ring, resting his weapon on his back, a shit eating grin on his face.

Gritting his teeth, Jaune charged forward with his shield raised. As he neared his mentor, the young man decided to take a risk, and let his shield down, and lunged forward, ready to tackle the old man to the ground. Unfortunately, Grayson had seen it, and jumped away from the blonde. As Jaune was on the ground, Grayson stepped forward, reared his leg back, and kicked Jaune right in the ribs, sending his protege back by a good few feet.

Gasping out from the pain, Jaune was quick to get back to his feet, already realizing that he would be lucky to land even a few hits on the old man. He also knew that his mentor would just find a way around his shield, forcing him to expose himself by attacking. Shaking his head, the young man decided the only way to have the slightest hint of a chance would be to be an unrelenting force against the huntsman. But to do that, he would need one good opening. Glancing down to his holstered pistol, the blonde decided to go for broke. Rushing forward and dropping his sword, Jaune drew his pistol, peering over his shield to see Grayson reaching into his duster.

Ducking behind the shield, Jaune felt the rounds hit his shield harmlessly. As soon as he counted six, he lowered his shield, aimed the pistol, and fired three times at Grayson. The old man took the shots, his aura flaring. Growling, the huntsman charged forward, and grabbed the pistol before Jaune could pull the trigger another time. Ripping the gun out the the young man's hand, Grayson reared back his fist, and let loose another blow to Jaune's face.

But this time, the huntsman wasn't about to let the advantage go to waste. Grabbing the shield, Grayson yanked it away from his protege's body, leaving him open for whatever the huntsman was going to subject him to. Namely, it was a series of punches, along with a knee or two thrown into Jaune's stomach. Jaune tried to retaliate, his fist swinging near Grayson. Knocking the arm away, Grayson threw his protege to the side, kicking the young Arc as he was falling. The blonde landed, his wind knocked out of him.

Looking down at the young man in front of him, Grayson shook his head, and decided to do the right thing. Stepping to the young man, the huntsman extended a hand, concern hinted in his eyes. The blonde took the hand, and found the strength to stand. Grayson clapped both hands onto Jaune's shoulder, and with a grin, told his protege, "Kid, you've come a long way in literally just a week. Hell, you've done what took me months to do. You're growing faster than anything I've ever seen."

"Uh, thanks, it really feels like I can do better..."

Barking out a laugh, Grayson gestured to the large screen displaying the aura levels of the two. "Jaune, do you really not having _any _idea how much aura you have?"

Looking up, Jaune's eyes widened. He was only at about half, while Grayson was at three fourths. "I... I knocked you that far down?"

"Yes, Jaune, I don't nearly have as much aura as you do, it's honestly impressive." Something even more so since he hadn't exactly been hitting the kid like a normal person, he had been hitting like a truck compared to his rare sparring sessions with students. "You'll be ready in three weeks, hell, maybe even half that."

"Heh, I won't stop you from dreaming, Sensei."

Shaking his head, Grayson stepped back, raising his hands up. "Trust me. I'll make sure to talk to you right before the initiation."

* * *

One entire month. It had felt like years ago, back when he had gotten angry at his dad for not wanting his son to get himself killed. Jaune shook his head, not entirely out of nostalgia, as his stomach was doing flips, and he wanted so desperately to be on solid ground, almost praying in his head. He just had to-

It was slowing down, which set off a lurch in his stomach, but he held it down, with nearly all of his willpower, waited until the bullhead landed, and the doors opened, that he made it to the nearby trashcan, and lost the battle, his lunch coming up and back out. Once done, he smeared his mouth with his sleeve, which had somehow come unstained. Walking more more steadily now, Jaune looked up, and nearly had a heart attack with what he saw.

There, with the shit eating grin that had inspired fear in his heart, was Grayson Hunt. Gulping, Jaune had forgotten the bile in his mouth, and continued to fail to notice. "Uh, hey Sensei. I, uh, I definitely didn't get motion sickness." Cringing internally, Jaune cursed his inability to lie well. "...yeah that's what happened..."

Shaking his head, the old man chuckled. "Kid, you are literally the only one to have it, in all the time that I've been here, and this is my seventh year teaching. Called it."

Rolling his eyes, the young Arc walked past the huntsman, who hadn't even taken a second to fall in sync with the blonde. "Sensei, it's fine, it only lasts for a minute after the ride, no big deal."

"I know, but it's still real fucking hilarious."

"Oh, so you're telling me that my suffering brings you joy? Alright then." Grinning, the huntsman shrugged.

"Anyway, the initiation is going to start at the cliff face, I'm not sure why. Good thing you spent so much time in the forest, so I'm positive you know which one I'm talking about. Anyway, you didn't hear it from me, but word is that first person you see becomes your partner for all the Beacon, so be sure you know who to trust your life with." Stroking his beard, Grayson couldn't help but wonder why that had been chosen, but only shrugged, sure that Ozpin had thought hard about the method. "There you go, there's your obligatory grain of wisdom."

"Thanks, it's better hearing it _not _from you, than from someone else."

"Nah, he wouldn't tell you at literally the last minute. I think." Again, the huntsman shrugged. So just listen to what he has to say, and do what they tell you."

With that last bit of advice, the mentor stepped away from Jaune, and began to walk in a different direction entirely. Walking, Jaune was breathing in easy.

At least, he was until he heard an explosion in the distance, and sighed, before doing the right thing, and heading to the explosion to check if anyone was hurt. Near the source of the noise were three young women. A girl with the purest of white hair, complete with the figure of an angel. In an instant, Jaune could feel hormones, and confused them for feelings of love, but it was really just his brain telling him to procreate. In any event, he noticed the other two girls soon enough, the one in red reminding him of one of his little sisters. And finally the girl in black and white, just standing there, nearly stoic.

After the monochrome girl, and the snow angel had left the girl with the red hood, Jaune approached, the girl falling to her knees, and then to her back, something Jaune could relate to, as he had been as awkward. Walking over to the girl, he stood over her, hand reached out. "So, you don't look like you're having a great day. I'm Jaune."

The girl looked up, and smiled, thankful that there was somebody will to stick around her. "I'm not gonna lie, it hasn't been the greatest." Taking the offered hand, the girl pulled herself up, smiling to show her appreciation. "I'm Ruby." Looking at Jaune, the girl, Ruby seemed to realize something, and snickered into her hand. "Hey, you're the guy that nearly lost his lunch on the flight here, right?"

Jaune frowned. He didn't want his first impression to be the 'vomit boy', otherwise Grayson wouldn't ever let him live it down. "Yeah, hey, can we just forget about that. It's actually a lot more common than you think it is." Jaune knew he had said the same thing to his mentor, and the man had just laughed at Jaune, not with any malice, but it still annoyed him a bit.

"I don't know, it really only looked like you were struggling the way there." Taking a step forward, Ruby began to walk, at least until the blonde tapped her on the shoulder. "Huh, what's up?"

Pointing his finger in the opposite finger, Jaune raised a brow. "Uh, the auditorium is that way, so we should head on over."

Scratching the back of her head, Ruby felt herself blush, a tad embarrassed. "Oh, uh, right. Hehehe..."

Smiling, Jaune simply rolled his eyes, and began to walk, his first new friend at his side. Yeah, Jaune was glad that he was where he was, and he could only thank the man he had run into by complete accident.


End file.
